US Coal Policy
There are currently more than 150 new coal-fired power plants on the drawing boards in the United States, and, according to Grist Magazine, the National Energy Technology Laboratory anticipates the construction of up to 309 new 500 MW coal plants by 2030. Details on the rush to coal:
- Environment Colorado: Coal Rush in the Making."(August 2006)
- Grist "Merchant of Menace. August 24, 2006
Currently,
there are more than 35 proposed new or expanded coal-fired power plants
in the Interior West—which represents over 23,500 megawatts of
new energy (one megawatt supplies electricity for about 1000 homes).
About a quarter of these plants are currently moving through the permitting
process.
If only
coal plants proposed for the Western US were built (approximately half of those
on the drawing boards) they would emit 185 million tons of CO2 per year,
an
increase of 58% from the year 2000.
After a
long period of scrutiny, the coal industry has a new lease on life from
the Bush Administration. Several top coal industry executives have been
appointed to key positions in the EPA and the Department of Interior.
Plus the Bush administration has dropped dozens of law suits against
coal polluters.
For more information about proposed coal plants see the Westen Resource Advocates web site.
